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TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer says the rally here seems too strong for the news and data we're getting.

Just as when Doug Kass says, "Tell me something I don't know," I think this market knows something we don't know, either about a turn in commercial real estate to rival that of residential -- the real estate investment trusts are holding in well -- or a second stimulus plan, a real one that will put more people to work.

The employment numbers aren't good enough to merit this kind of rally, and we know the layoffs for June were preposterously high. We know that the auto build will be slightly better than expected a few months ago, but it's still pathetic and the auto idlings are about to start.

In case you needed another reason to hate Countrywide Financial (in which case I can't help you with further proof that we did in fact land on the Moon), here's a good one: Former executive managing director Andrew "Drew" Gissinger III has started a new firm in San Diego, the boom gone bust city where he once played in the National Football League.

His new firm will serve as a real estate broker for bank-owned homes: some of which will doubtless be bank-owned because of bad loans that were made under Mr. Gissinger's watch.

In a word: yes.

Despite all the talk about regulating these speculative investment vehicles, "Obama's financial overhaul plan included no big surprises or threats to the lucrative, secretive industry," writes The Wall Street Journal.

The name of the game is lobbying, which is easily funded by the $1.3 trillion dollar industry. Even after numerous Ponzi schemes and frauds have recently been exposed, the U.S. government has failed at regulating hedge funds, the most speculative area in finance, in part due to the industry's lobbying efforts.

TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer says stock prices may roll back, but techs and financials should be fine.

The pain of the aftermath of mark-ups never goes away. We knew what was in store for us, as the mark-up folks don't like to play on the last day, especially with the newly vigilant Securities and Exchange Commission. I have to believe that this SEC will now become more interested in "the tapes," which would show clients asking brokers to take stocks up as much as they can, something that we know is against the law.

What comes up from mark-up must come down, and the most important "come-downs" should be in the industrials, because we have the least visibility in them. I do not believe the techs have as much to worry about, nor the banks, because both have excellent earnings prospects for the coming quarter. Why sell Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) (Cramer's Take) here? Why sell Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) (Cramer's Take)? And why dump Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) (Cramer's Take) or Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) (Cramer's Take) or JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM) (Cramer's Take) when those have the best possibilities of good news ahead? I can see locking in some Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) (Cramer's Take) gains, but that's going to be the best quarter of all.

We all know that Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) is a lousy, incompetently run outhouse of a financial institution. All you have to do is look at the welfare it's received, its stock price, and the fact that its CEO still has a job that doesn't involve cleaning out public bathrooms in mental hospitals.

But now there are new allegations -- on top of many similar old allegations -- that in addition to losing money for its investors, Bank of America also rips off consumers.

TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer says that to go higher from here, we need some bearish bets that are currently MIA.

We need some doom-and-gloomers to go higher here. I didn't hear any last week and it is worrisome. Without some avowed bears, we could be stalled here until we see some earnings even though seasonally this is a terrific time.

I say that because as I looked for things to talk about on Friday's show, I was hoping to find some stocks where there have been big negative bets made and really couldn't. Natural gas had been thick with bears and those stocks are still going down, but I don't see a lot of bearish bets being made. We had some in retail, but they seem to have dried up since Bed Bath & Beyond (NASDAQ: BBBY) (Cramer's Take). Tech? Boy, I don't see any bears at all going into what should be a remarkably negative period, at least historically.

TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer says the jobless number shows the folly of thinking we can get through on what we have.

Tough data point, the employment number. Lagging. But when you see it, the number doesn't feel like it's lagging. In fact, it is thesis-busting, as in, "We aren't getting better, let's stop fooling ourselves." It just feels like, "Come on, we know the truth, we need to have a second stimulus plan."

That will be the battleground for the second half of this year: further budget-busting vs. putting more people to work, because we sure aren't doing a great job of putting them to work.

U.S. stock futures edged lower Thursday morning, as markets still looked for direction following the Federal Reserve's statement Wednesday that was somewhat mixed. This morning, investors await jobs and GDP data, as well as Fed chairman Ben Bernanke's testimony over the Bank of America (BAC)-Merrill Lynch deal.

Bernanke will testify before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Thursday to face questions over his role was in the Bank of America (BAC) purchase of Merrill Lynch. Documents uncovered by The Wall Street Journal indicate he may have been more involved than he admitted, prompting some membersto say that the Fed "engaged in a cover-up.

What's that? You think that just because you're on welfare, you shouldn't be allowed to charter a jet for a personal vacation? You're un-American!

The Wall Street Journal reports (subscription required) that "Flight records show numerous occasions when banks receiving federal money have flown their planes to destinations near resorts or executives' vacation homes, including spots in Europe, Mexico, the Caribbean, south Florida and Aspen, Colo. In some cases, it's clear that bank executives were traveling for personal reasons; for other flights, many of which were over weekends or holidays, the passengers and purpose couldn't be established."

Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) was one of the "Let's take taxpayer money and book flights to Aspen." "We are implementing a new policy in 2009, under which personal use of aircraft will not be permitted," a spokesperson told the Journal.

Today was one of those low news flow days where you never had any real solid feel for where the market would close until the very end of the session. We have seen too many rallies dashed by closing imbalances at the end of the day when there was thin volume.

Some Philly Fed data helped hold the market, and that was on the heels of the largest drop in continuing jobless claims since 2001. Some of the agriculture stocks staged a small comeback after yesterday's huge losses.

Here were the unofficial closing bell levels:

Dow 8,554.77 +57.59 (0.68%)
S&P 500 918.34 +7.63 (0.84%)
Nasdaq 1,807.72 -0.34 (-0.02%)

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A report today in The New York Post reveals that bailed-out Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) is still doling out millions in bonuses to attract and retain top banking talent. Bank of America is catching heat over the bonus payouts, since it hasn't yet received federal clearance to repay its $45 billion in TARP loans.

Bank of America allegedly shelled out $15 million over two years to keep Fares Noujaim, an alumnus of both Bear Stearns and Merrill Lynch, who now serves as the company's vice chairman of investment banking. Harry McMahon is named as another banker who's been enticed to stay with handsome bonuses.

Today was a negative market from the start of trading, and the economic data just confirmed the selling, as hunting for green shoots looked more like hunting for four-leaf clovers. It seems that those analysts and economists saying that the market has risen too far and too fast are getting some more ears than in recent weeks.

The housing data showed a dip after two months of rising data, and the New York Empire Manufacturing data came in weaker than expected. Even the Iran turmoil after the election failed to rally oil. Here were today's unofficial closing bell levels:

Dow 8,613.04 -186.22 (-2.12%)
S&P 500 923.81 -22.40 (-2.37%)
Nasdaq 1,816.38 -42.42 (-2.28%)

Top 10 Analyst Calls

The market spent the day as it has many a Friday in the summer: slowing going no where.

The University of Michigan/Reuters consumer sentiment index showed a very modest increase in June up to 69, from 68.7 in May. The same survey showed that expectations for six months from now actually dropped.

Oil and gas prices still dominated the headlines. Oil still hovers around $72 and the average price of gas rose for the 45th consecutive day to $2.63. The has to rattle consumers who have precious little discretionary income as it is.

Has your broker repeatedly sold you on the "safe" investment vehicle, the mutual fund? Investing in a wide variety of prominent companies, with solid, long-term track records, mutual funds have been an easy-to-understand and popular investment choice for decades.

Mutual funds are hugely diversified, holding large stakes in recognizable names such as Google (NASDAQ: GOOG), Citigroup (NYSE: C), Walmart (NYSE: WMT), Starbucks (NASDAQ: SBUX), General Electric (NYSE: GE), Bank of America (NYSE: BAC), and Fannie Mae (NYSE: FNM).

TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer says these markets are easy to manipulate, a lesson learned over the last two years.

Did the bears really have nothing up their sleeves with the last-minute pushdown at the end of Thursday's session? No big downgrades? No bank seizures? No stories about how Citigroup's (NYSE: C) (Cramer's Take) getting close to failure again?

They didn't have the bond market story, for certain. Bonds were a buy. Oil wasn't out of control, just up enough to drive stocks up again. Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) (Cramer's Take) never gave up the ghost -- and I know I wasn't going to let it give up the ghost on my TV show, "Mad Money."